Christmas Decorating Part 1

A few weeks ago, I saw this post on Effortless Style and was inspired to make a wreath for my back door. At our house, very few people use the front door so I wanted something for decoration. I bought all my supplies from Joann's and using online coupons, I only paid $5 for everything. I followed these directions and voila...the finished product....

Price Reduction on West Grace Street

Come take a look at this great home. Reduced to $252,500, this house is move-in ready. Updated kitchen and bathrooms, gas cooking, gas fireplace, security system, new heating and air conditioning system, new hot water heater, new washer/dryer, updated and modern lighting, fully fenced in backyard with fire pit...the list goes on!

Menu Planner

Michael and I had a great weekend in Blacksburg for the VA Tech vs UVA game. Despite a huge loss for the Wahoos...sigh....it was a nice getaway without the kids. Thanks to Gammy and Neena and Moe for watching Camille & Clyde.

Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Kate's Italian Sausage Pasta
Wednesday - Double Delicious Teriyaki Chicken with Rice & Broccoli
Thursday - Out to Dinner with a Friend
Friday - Birthday & Christmas Party

Gammy's Birthday Dinner

Last night, my sisters and I made dinner for our mom for her birthday. It was fun. Here are some pictures of my table settings.







I cut tags out of grocery bags and then used a stencil to write relevant words and numbers...my mom's age, birthday, her grandmother name, Gammy. Then I tied them around the napkin and silverware with brown ribbon. I had the placemat and usually think of them for spring and summer but I thought they had a rustic fall look in this case. The leaves are from my yard and the pumpkins are leftover from Halloween.



Don't forget to look in your yard for FREE greenery when decorating & entertaining. Save money on flowers.





The kids table....I found these cute placemats at TJMaxx for $2.99 each. I used our leftover Dollar Tree toy label supplies and let Camille and Clyde make these signs for Gammy. It is sorta like a word scramble!

Menu Planner

Sunday - Gammy's Birthday Dinner at our house. Menu is Flank Steak (Marinated in 1 Real Coke and about 1 cup of Soy Sauce), Asparagus, Mashed Potatoes, Deceptively Delicious Cholocate Chip Cupcakes
Monday - Italian Sausage Pasta
Tuesday - Ginger Pork Rolls, French Fries
Wednesday - White Chicken and Corn Chili

White Chicken and Corn Chili2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, minced
1 14 oz can yellow corn, drained
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1. Mash 1/2 cup of cannellini beans with fork.
2. Please all ingredients (except cheese) including mashed beans in slow cooker and stir to combine.
3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours.
4. Top with shredded cheese before serving.

Serves 16-20 so I plan on halfing.

Elle Decor at Kohls

While reading a recent issue of Elle Decor, I discovered that they now have a line at Kohl's. And the best part is all the stuff is on sale now. Great items...here are my favorites.







Check out the entire line here.

Tiny Prints Christmas Cards

I have already been thinking of this year Christmas Cards. Tiny Prints is running a few specials right now for early birds.

Click here to save $10 off orders $75 or more. Or here to save 15% off of orders of $99+ or 20% off order of $199+.

And if you are a new customer, click here to save $10 off $49+.

They have some cute things and all the cards above are as low as $.54 each!

Menu Planner

Monday - Double Delicious Baked Ziti
Tuesday - Soft Taco's
Wednesday - Frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu's, Cous Cous, Green Beans
Thursday - Turkey Burger's and French Fries

An easy week and nothing too exciting! Happy Monday!

Mortgage Rates Keep Falling

Cute West End Cape Cod For Sale! Rates are low...make an offer!

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 11, 2010

NEW YORK — Rates on fixed mortgages dropped to their lowest levels in decades this week after the Federal Reserve unveiled a massive bond-buying program to help spur economic growth.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell to 4.17 percent from 4.24 percent last week. That's the lowest on records dating back to 1971.

The average rate on 15-year fixed loans fell to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent. That's the lowest since the survey began in 1991.

The Fed detailed plans last week to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds. The extra demand means Treasurys will produce lower yields for investors. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.

Read more here.

Bedroom Update

Wow! What a blank slate...

There is still work to be done but this is better. The best part about this update is that is was free! I moved the bird pictures from Clyde's room. The Claude Monet copy and the mother of pearl frames are from my grandmother. The tray came from my mom.

Still Not Clyde Proof

Camille and I were so excited when we found these cute foam flowers and letter at the Dollar Tree. We decided to make new toy labels for her room and what a steal...the supplies only cost $3! Click here to read what happened to the first labels we made.

I spent at least an hour making all the labels and then just hole punched each flower and attached with ribbon I already owned. They looked really cute! Clyde strikes again...I barely got a picture before he tore them off. Back to the drawing board!

Menu Planner

Here goes...

Monday - Slow Cooker Chicken Gumbo
Tuesday - Double Delicious Pasta with Pea Pesto
Wednesday - Italian Sausage Soup (from my freezer) and Bar Grilled Cheese
Thursday - Double Delicious Meatball Subs and Ranch French Fries

Shades of Greige

I was looking through Better Homes & Gardens November issue and ran across these products. They are on my list to try....


Essie Chinchilly


Sonia Kashuk's Eye Shadow Duo in Diamond Life

Labels!

After Camille's big room clean up, I decided to make labels out of scrapbook paper , regular computer paper and a few of our Dollar Tree rhinestones. This was super easy and we already had everything we needed. I figured if we had all the bins labeled it would make clean up easier and for those who don't know my system (ie. Michael) this would help. Well I am not going to lie, the labels turned out cute and are a good idea if you don't have a 17 month old child who likes to pull them off and destroy them. So we are going to have to come up with something else...Clyde-proof.

Menu Planner

My kids especially Clyde are really picker eaters...so I really like Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. There are quite a few things in there that Clyde will eat. So I saw Jessica on Oprah last week and she has a new book, Double Delicious! and I was interested. I used a Barnes and Noble gift card this weekend and purchased. So far so good...I made a bunch of purees yesterday that are in my freezer. We made Homemade Chicken pizza last night and it was good. I posted the recipe.

Monday - Double Delicious! Orange Beef
Tuesday - Double Delicious! Lemon Chicken, Risotto, Sauteed Zucchini
Wednesday - Double Delicious! Turkey Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
Thursday - Double Delicious! Chicken & Rice Soup, Grilled Cheese

Chicken Pizza (Source: Double Delicious, Jessica Seinfeld)
Nonstick Cooking Spray
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups jarred marinara sauce
1/2 cup carrot puree
1 lb frozen pizza dough
2 cups mozzarella

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat two large baking sheets with cooking spray. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic power, paprika and pepper. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. Brown the chicken on both sides 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until it is cooked through and no longer pink in the center. When the chicken is cooled, thinly slice.

In a medium bowl, mix the marinara sauce and carrot puree until smooth. Cut the dough in half. Roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into a round disk with your fingers.

Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Top each pizza with the sauce. Top with the sliced chicken, then cheese. Bake until the crust is cooked and the cheese is lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before slicing.

My kids are still under the weather but Michael and I really liked this. I am going to try it out on my kids soon. You could used the pre-cooked chicken as a time saver.


We did get to do a little trick or treating! Yea!



PS...Look at my sad pansies! Not the right flower for my shady front porch!